Meat-chopping machine



(No Model.)

J. SHEARGREN. MBATGHOPPING MACHINE.

N01 445,823. Patentedfeb. s, 1891.

UNITED vSTATES Prvrnnrrv nricn.

JOHN SHEARGREN, OF BURLINGTON, IOWA.

MEAT-CHOPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,823, dated February 3, 1891.

Application iilecl August 26 1890. Serial No.3631157. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SHEARGREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in'the county of Des Moines and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Meat-Choppin g Machine, of which the following is a specification.

The most approved class of meat-chopping machines is that in which rocking knives are employed in conjunction with rotating chopping-blocks.

My invention relates to machines of this kind; and it consists in certain improvements both in the construction and operation of the chopping-block and the construction and operation of the knives.

VMy improvements are hereinafter specifically designated, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a side elevation of a meat-chopping machine embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a front view; Fig. 3, a sectional side view; Fig. 4, a detail view showing one of the rockers and the rods for regulating its movement in side elevation. Fig. 5 is atop view of a pair of knives; Fig. 6, a detail view of part of the mechanism rotating the chopping`- block; Fig. 7, a diagram illustrating the position of the knives relatively to the center of the chopping-block; and Fig. S is a detail view in perspective of the bifurcated hook for connecting a pair of knives tothe knife-carrying frame.

Standards A, secured to the bed-plate B, support in journaled boxes a the main drivingshaft O, carrying at each end a crank-wheel I) and between the crank-wheels pulleys E. An eccentric b is also secured to the drivingshaft, and is employed to operate `the mechanism which imparts a rotatingmotion to the chopping-block, and will be hereinafter described. The chopping-block F is arranged within a tank or metallic casing G, circular in horizontal cross-section, and having a continuous series of teeth g on the bottom around its edge.

Rollers 7L, mounted in uprights H H H2, secured to the bed-plate, support the tank, and preferably, as shown, the rollers have tapered flanges It on their peripheries,'which enter a correspondingly shaped circular groove h2, extending around the bottom of the tank. By this arrangement the tank is held in position against lateral movement relatively to its axis; butit is free to revolve around it. The block F may be adjusted vertically within the tank G by the set-screwsf, which extend through the annular bottom Gr of the tank and enter recesses in themetallic disk F on the bottom of the block. Prefer- 6o ably the adjusting-screws are connectedso that when one screw is adjusted the others will be correspondingly moved. This is done by securing a small sprocket-wheel fto each screw between the bottom of the clioppingblock and the bottom G of the tank and connecting them, so as to move coincidently, by a chain f2. By this arrangement the block may be raised and lowered within the tank quickly and uniformly, so as to always maintain its 7o 'surface in a true horizontal plane.

The tank is rotated step by step in the following manner: A pitman I, secured to an eccentric-strap h', surrounding the eccentric h, extends downwardly therefrom, and at its lower end is pivotally connected to a short rocking lever fi, pivoted to an upright I-I3 on the bed-plate. This lever carries two pawls t" i2, which engage with a ratchet-wheel K, secured to a shaft K j ournaled in the uprights 8o H2 H3 and carrying a pinion It, meshing with the teeth gon the bottom of the tank. As the driving-shaft O is revolved the ratchet-wheel K is intermittently actuated and the tank is caused to rotate on the rollers h. The mech- 8 5 anism is so arranged that the tank is advanced a step each time the rocking knives reach the limit of their movement in one direction. rlhe chopping-knives L are of the wellknown l arc shape' or rocker variety, and are secured go to a knife-carrying frame M, located above them.. The frame M is secured at its 0pposite ends to a pair of rockers N, having an are shape corresponding approximately with the knives and resting on straight horizontal 9 5 rails O, having standards I), and secured to the uprights A on opposite sides of the tank. The rockers have upwardly-projecting arms N', connected on each side by a pitman Q to the corresponding crank-wheel D. As the :oo driving-shaft and crank-wheels are revolved the rockers are oscillated and a correspond` ing movement is given to the knives secured to the knife-carrying frame M, which in turn is secured to the rockers.

In order to give a slight longitudinal movement to the knives, or a draw over the frame of the block, a rod R on each side of the machine is pivotally connected at one end to one end of the corresponding rocker, and the opposite end of the rod is pivotally connected at r to the standard A. The length of the rod R is somewhat greater than that of the radius of the are of the rockers and the knives, and consequently as the rockers are oscillated they are caused to move longitudinally on the rails O, so that the knives are caused to work more effectively in mincing the meat in the tank.

Instead of using two rods, one on each side of the machine, I may employ two rods on each side crossed and connected, as shown in Fig. at, and the rods connected to the rear ends of the rockers may be made detachable at their lower ends, so that the knives may be raised away from the chopping-block, as shown in Fig. Any suitable detachable fastening may be employed. As shown, the lower end of the rod is slotted at o" 4and fits over a sleeve r2, to which it is secured by a set-screw r3, the sleeve being free to revolve on the pin rt, secured to the main frame. The rods R not only cause the longitudinal movement of t-he knives, but also hold them down to their work in a most efiicient manner.

The knives may be raised away from the block and outof the tank by inserting a pin d through an aperture d in the rim of the crank-wheel D and a corresponding aperture q in the pitman Q, thus locking the wheel and the pitman together. By then turning the Wheel to the right, as viewed in the drawings, the knives may be elevated to the position shown in Fig. 3, and may be held elevated by rods S, pivoted at son opposite sides of the standards A and adapted to engage with the rockers, preferably with the pivotpins R', which connect the rockers with the arms R.

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To turn the wheel D in raising the knives, I may employ a rod or handle T, 'which fits in an aperture t in the rim of the wheel. The knives L are preferably arranged in pairs. They are allequidistant from each other; but no two of them are the same distance from the center of the chopping-block- This arrangement is shown in the diagram Fig. 7, in which L illust-rates the knives and F the chopping-block. The center of the block is shown by the smallest circle, and larger circles with the same center, equally distant apart, serve to show at a glance the position of the knives relatively to the center of the block. By this arrangement of the knives a more perfect mincing of the meat is effected. Each pair of knives is secured to an intermediate connecting-plate U. The connecting-plate U is made of metal of somewhat the same general form as the knives, but much smaller. It is site directions from each end of the connecting-plate. olts U extend through the hollow studs at each end of the plate and through the knives on opposite sides of the plates. B y means of clam pin g-n uts the pair of knives is firmly connected to the intermediate connecting-plate U, and the hollow studs at each end of the plate serve to hold the knives at a proper distance apart. Each pairof knives is connected to the knife-carrying frame M by a bifurcated hook V, engaging with the studs u. The hook has a serew-threaded shank c extending through the bottom of the frame M, and by means of an adj Listing-nut V the knives may be drawn toward the frame. The upward movement of the knives is, however, limited by bifurcated abutmentblocks IV, which bear on the hollow studs it at the ends of the plate U. The under sides of the abutment-blocks are curved and neatly lit the studs u. The screw-threaded shanks w of the abutment-blocks extend through the bottom of the frame M and carry nuts tu both above and below the frame, by which means the blocks may be adjusted toward and from the frame to any desired extent.

By this arrangement a strong and secure connection may be made between the knives and the frame.

Any pair of knives may be readily detached from the knife-carrying frame by simply unscrewing the nut V until the blocks IV are separated from the hollow studs rit,when the studs u may be lifted out from the bifurcated hook V.

The apparatus herein described is simple and efficient; but changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the novel features of my invention.

Some parts of the apparatus may be embodied in machines differing in construction as to other features.

I claim as my own inventionl l. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the choppingblock, the stationary rails or supports, the arc-shaped rockers, the knives, the knife-carrying frame secured directly to the upper faces of the rockers, and means, substantially as described, for

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imparting oscillation to the rockers and knives.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the chopping-block, the rockers, the knife-carrying frame, and the rods longer than the radius of the rockers and; y

pivoted to the frame and the rockers, whereby a draw or longitudinal movement is given to the knives.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the chopping-block, the rockers, the knives, the knife-carrying frame connected with the rockers, and the crossed rods pivoted to the rockers and the main frame, whereby the knives are held down to their work and given a longitudinal movement or draw relatively to the chopping-block.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set i'orth, of the rotating choppingblock, the knife carrying frames, and the knives, each of which is at a different distance from the center of the chopping-block, means for rotating the block, and mechanism for operating the knives.

5. The combination, substantially as llereinbefore set fort-h, of the chop ping-block, the knives, their connecting-frame, the main driving-shaft, the crank-Wheels, the pitman connecting the crank-Wheels with the knife-carrying-frame, devices for connecting the pitinan with the rim of acrank-wheel, and the pivoted rods which hold the knives elevated.

6. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth,.of the chopping-block, the knife-carrying frame, the knives arranged in pairs, the intermediate connecting-plate between each pair of knives, and the bifurcated hook engaging with the connecting-plate.

7. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the knife-carrying frame, the knives arranged in pairs, the intermediate connecting-plate arranged between each pair of knives and formed With hollow studs on opposite sides of each end and with intermediate oppositely-projecting studs, a bifurcated hook adapted to engage with the intermediate studs and having a screw-threaded shank extending through the knife-connecting frame, the abutment-blocks adapted to engage with the studs at opposite ends of the connecting-plate, and the adj Listing-nuts for the shank of the hook and the Shanks of the abutment-blocks.

JOHN SHEARGREN.

Witnesses:

N ILS ANDERSON, J. T. CHAPLEN. 

